President Obama will push for new infrastructure projects and investments as he hits the road again Thursday, traveling this time to Jacksonville, Fla., for his third consecutive speech on the economy.

The event at the city's port comes fresh on the heels of the president's much-hyped economic address Wednesday in Illinois, where he claimed credit for the economic recovery and argued that his progressive economic policies would benefit the middle class.

He also challenged congressional Republicans, daring them to propose alternative solutions to aid in the recovery and accusing them of obsessing over "phony scandals" for short-term political gain.

Obama will continue to target the GOP in his speech Thursday, according to a White House official.

"While in Jacksonville, the president will continue to talk about the cornerstones of middle-class security and discuss specifically how the House Republican budget approach poses a risk to the progress weve made in each area, including jobs, education, housing, and healthcare," the official said.

The White House chose the port as the site of the speech because it is home to two projects  a container terminal and a rail yard  that the administration expedited last year as part of a broader infrastructure push.

"Expediting permitting projects through executive action is just one example of how the president can and will act through his own authority to promote our economic progress, while still pushing Congress to pass legislation to grow the economy and create jobs," the White House official said.

In his speech in Illinois on Wednesday, Obama said his remarks would "offer new ideas for doing what America has always done best, which is building things."

"Weve got ports that arent ready for the new supertankers that are going to begin passing through the new Panama Canal in two years time," Obama said. "If we dont get that done, those tankers are going to go someplace else."

The president made a similar visit to the Port of Miami in March, when he touted a series of tax breaks and loans designed to stimulate private investment in infrastructure. He also called on Congress to fund a $10 billion infrastructure bank to aid in those efforts.

At the time, House Republicans said they also wanted to upgrade the nation's roads and bridges  if the costs were offset in other parts of the federal budget.

Its easy to go out there and be Santa Claus and talk about all the things you want to give away, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said. But at some point, somebody has to pay the bill.

Before speaking in Jacksonville, the president and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will tour the container terminal that was expedited under executive order.

The president really should try to avoid using the word “phony”. Listeners will have an irresistible compulsion to attach it to things like recovery, jobs, unemployment statistics, climate worries, the list is endless...

I visited a museum recently that described the construction of the National Road, the first federally mandaded interstate hiway.

It had a display depicting a road cross section. there was a sub base made of 4” rock about 24” thick and a sub base of 2” rock maybe 16 “ thick.

There were two iron circles welded to rod handles and an iron mallet on display. There was a drawing of a man with a rock in one hand and and the mallet in the other. He would break up the rock. If it passed through the 2” circle it went in one pile, If bigger but smaller than the 4” circle it went in a separate pile.

Perhaps that is the infrastructure building jobs we need now. Three meals and a cot and 10 hours on th job

With the amount of money this guy has wasted we would have had the best infrastructure on earth.But the money went to his union buddies and campaign supporters.Now we’re in debt up to our eyeballs and we are lucky to afford to put fuel and pilots in our Air Force and Navy Planes.

Oh! I can’t forget how we’re continuing to subsidize the losers endless vacations.

17
posted on 07/25/2013 4:54:00 AM PDT
by puppypusher
(The World is going to the dogs.)

Obama can only speak at college campuses, union rallys, rest homes, kindergarten class rooms and closed Rose Garden pep rallies or he would be booed and hooted off the stage....or someone would throw a shoe at him.

Leni

25
posted on 07/25/2013 5:11:54 AM PDT
by MinuteGal
(Barack Hussein Obama....the 44th white African president of the United States)

We already spent enough money to build a bridge over every river, lake, stream and puddle in Acirema. I guess dry lake beds and the Grand Canyon are next.

Meanwhile, in Old Joe Biden’s plantation, there is a much needed bridge that won’t get built. A community focus group met with DE DOT to provide input on the design. They opted for a less expensive, quicker to build design, which DE DOT didn’t want. So nothing gets done. So much for community input.

And for the NSA trolls, FU.

28
posted on 07/25/2013 5:16:39 AM PDT
by NTHockey
(Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners)

You are right! This is probably only open to Longshoreman union sorts there is some snafu in red tape to do some dredgeing and opening up the Jax Port to larger container ships. Obama will probably issue an EO opening up this blockage.
FREEGARDS
LEX

In 1953 Americans undertook the building of the 5 mile long Mackinac bridge between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. Its a truly impressive structure with towers that stand nearly 1000 feet tall from the lakebed and it stood as the longest single span suspension bridge in the world for nearly 30 years. It took 3 years to build with no winter construction and nearly 8000 people were employed on the project in some form or another. It cost around $100 million to build.

Today such an infrastructure project could not happen. There would be decades of environmental impact studies. Lord knows how many billions it would cost over the 20 years or so the unions managed to milk the project and the final cost would likely run into the 10s of billions.

As far as democrat stupidity goes you can again look to Detroit where the city has fought against the building of a second bridge over the Detroit river for 30 years. They even fought (and lost thank God) against Canada paying for a new bridge. They fought the Canadian funded bridge because they won’t have control of the money.

Any time I hear a democrat say the word infrastructure, I want to knock their teeth down their throat.

31
posted on 07/25/2013 5:23:58 AM PDT
by cripplecreek
(REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)

With nearly 9 hundred billion dollars in tax-payer money for the "Stimulas Program", we still haven't fix those bridges? Where did all that money go? There needs to be an accounting by the GAO and other non-partisan entities.

This marxist pretend Potus reminds me of the the days phonograph records would skip back to a certain point due to a defective groove on the LP. We need to rebuild and we will with this Stimulas Pack...skip... We need to rebuild and we will with this Stimulas Pack...skip... We need to rebuild and we will with this Stimulas Pack...skip... and on it goes until you lift the needle arm and change the record to something that actually works.

Reeling from his over 4 year failure to achieve his stated goal of Fundamentally changing the United States of America,” Communist Tyrant B. Hussein Obama has embarked on another expensive road trip to try to sell his Commune-Style power grab of 1/6 th of the US economy by promoting the idea that increased Federal debt is the best way of salvation for the over-taxed Middle Class.

The problem is not with loyal Communist Obama, as he is just doing what his Communist trainers have taught him to do.

The problem lies with the sorry House RINOs who keep John Boehner on as their useless, Commie Obama enabler Speaker.

Nothing is going to help Commie Obama more than to keep John Boehner on as Speaker of the House.

Boehner has repeatedly stated his baseless fear that If the Republicians stand up and oppose Obama we might be blamed by the Liberals for __________________(Fill in the blank).

It is time for the House RINOs to step up to the plate and fight FOR The Republic, and not wallow in the baseless fears of losing the fake prasie of Liberals when a “Bi-Partisan Cave-In” is finally agreed to.

The reality is that WE would cheer “Shutting down the Government,” and it’s ‘non-essential’ Federal expenditures, or “playing politics” with Commie Obama’s “phony scandals” such as the Obama coverup of the Benghazi Massacre, or the NSA, or IRS, etc., etc., etc.

Rather than taking the fight TO the enemy, in this case the inexorable attempt to turn our Republic into a Communist State, Boehner has consistently shown that he is not a fighter.

It is time during Commie Obamas con-artist tour of the remaining Liberal bastions in America for us to demand from our sorry House RINOs that they depose scardy-cat Boehner as Speaker, and install a FIGHTER worthy of our trust in his/her record of defeating Communist Con-Artists such as B. Hussein Obama.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.